I bought this a year ago with the Hammer Horror series and finally got to it. I knew I was not going to be getting a classic and I was not let down. What happened to the women vampires? How did the main vampire die? It ended so abruptly that I was confused. The two women vampires reminded me of cheshire cats watching, i laughed more than anything. Loved Peter Cushing, as usual.
5 out of a 10.
Women vampires burned to death in the windmill, the main vampire died because of the cross silouette the burning windmill made.
shareWhat? Vampires can die in fires? Geez, Hammer vampires ain't very immortal after all. They can be killed by shadows cast by objects, by fire ... what next ... a stiff breeze?
Anyway there was nothing I saw to suggest they died in the fire. There were plenty of doors. If Cushing can get out in time, after what he went thru, how come they can't?
"Anyway there was nothing I saw to suggest they died in the fire."
The fact that when we last saw them they were surrounded by flames, and at the end of the movie the only ones to make it out of the brning windmill was Cushing and the girl? That doesnt suggest that they died in the fire?
Imagination .... it requires that you think for yourself instead of having everything spoon fed to you in little bits to make sure you get everything.
Good answer. If the two vampire brides had survived, Van Helsing would not have stood comforting Marianne and watching the windmill burn down, he would have been off in pursuit of them and the film would not have ended at that moment, so I think it's very clearly intended that we assume the two vampires burn to dust.
shareFire is absolutely something they should be Vulnerable to, I found it absurd when "Lust for A Vampire" implied Fire would have no effect at all.
In my own Mythology I'm it's the only way to Permanently kill one.
"When the chips are down... these Civilized people... will Eat each Other"
Dear hannahpl, the two women vampires wree killed/destroyed in the fire. Baron Meinster was killed by the windmill blades being turned into a cross. "The Brides Of Dracula", in my opinion, is one of the better Hammer films. I hope this helps. Best John R. Tracy
shareVampyres are killed by fire? Where you find that out. So much for immortality .... They use fire on witches, not vampyres ... Hammer can't keep it's myths straight!
The windmill didn't 'turn into a cross.' It was always a windmill. It cast a shadow that looked like a cross or was cross-like.
No it doesn't help!
A mini-history of the strengths and weaknesses of vampires:
Pre-literary vampires: seem to move mostly at night, if can't fly must be bloody good at climbing, need to be destroyed (staked, beheaded, burned etc., exact method varies).
Polidori's "The Vampire": Vulnerable to blades and bullets but healed by moonlight. There doesn't seem to be any reliable way of killing him but he has no other special powers (flight, shape-shifting etc). No mention of fearing holy things.
Planche's dramatic version of "The Vampire": As above but he dies if he goes more than a month without feeding.
Varney the Vampire: Pretty much as in Polidori, though IIRC he can also fly? Eventually jumps into a volcano, apparently the only way he can die.
Carmilla: Implied shapeshifting abilities, no moonlight-related issues, not bothered by gypsy anti-vampire charms but so religiophobic that she can't bear to hear hymns. Staked, beheaded, burned and the ashes scattered on a river - they're not taking any chances.
Dracula: Can shift shape and fly, weaker by day, fears the cross and the Host, garlic and wild rose seem to work on younger and weaker vampires but don't bother the Count much, staking AND beheading specifically stated as necessary. Needs to sleep in his coffin on his own soil.
Nosferatu: Very similar to Dracula but killed by sunlight, the first vampire I'm aware of with this particular weakness.
And from there on it developed. Hammer doesn't have one consistent mythos, but they're fairly consistent within series. The vampires of the Karnstein trilogy are MUCH less vulnerable than those of the Dracula series: they're not bothered by fire, sunlight, running water or hawthorn, all of which hurt Drac and his brood. Makes you wonder why he's the King Vampire: Carmilla ought to take his crown fairly easily.
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"An inglorious peace is better than a dishonourable war" ~ John Adams
Carmilla: Implied shapeshifting abilities, no moonlight-related issues, not bothered by gypsy anti-vampire charms but so religiophobic that she can't bear to hear hymns. Staked, beheaded, burned and the ashes scattered on a river - they're not taking any chances.I'm not sure being "religiophobic" was the issue with the Funeral procession scene. That's always to me been one of the more awkward and difficult scenes to understand. No other scene seems to address any hypothetical fear of Christina things, though she does have an interesting brief theology debate with Laura's father. The issue may been something deeper and psychological.
Nosferatu: Very similar to Dracula but killed by sunlight, the first vampire I'm aware of with this particular weakness.
paintedplates said, "Vampyres are killed by fire? Where you find that out. So much for immortality .... They use fire on witches, not vampyres ... Hammer can't keep it's myths straight!"
paintedplates, I think fire kills EVERY living thing unfortunate enough to get caught in it.
I often feel Vampire have to many weaknesses, but Fire is the one thing above all else that I feel Should kill them.
"When the chips are down... these Civilized people... will Eat each Other"
Well we don't really see them in the burning windmill (Last shot of them is the two fleeing once the place sets on fire) so it just assumed they've burned in the windmill. I like to think they've escaped from it though (They don't seem dumb enough to get caught in something like that). We'll never know, just leave your imagination to it.
shareI hope they escaped also. I wanted them to survive. I wouldn't mind giving them mouth-to-mouth resuscitation had they been overcome by smoke inhalation!! They were just so incredibly beautiful and sexy.
share'I wouldn't mind giving them mouth-to-mouth resuscitation had they been overcome by smoke inhalation!!'
Yeah, I can see a problem with this given that they're, y'know, vampires.
But a vampire ISN'T a living thing...
I'm with the OP, this was a weak effort. How many times would a vampire walk under something that formed the shadow of a cross? They're supposed to be SUPERnatural, not vulnerable! The two Brides just disappearing was a plothole, I'm afraid - when was a vampire ever susceptible to flames? Why bother with the stake when you could just set the coffin on fire?
There's another Dracula movie where the hero (Cushing again, I think) crosses two candlesticks to form a cross. I mean, just how easy is it to kill them?? Could you cross your fingers?
the shadow of the windmill was huge, he couldn't escape from it. considering he travels by turning himself into a bat walking under the shadow of a cross wouldn't necessarily be an issue. if the female vampires didn't die in the fire then they should have died when the Baron did since he was their creator
http://betterwithbob.blogspot.com/
According to the IMDB page itself Christopher Lee refused the role and so they had to do rewrites and some of them were done on the fly. Apparently they had a spectacular ending in mind where bats destroyed the vampires but it turned out to be too expensive (and maybe dangerous as bats can carry rabies) to shoot so they came up with the ending with the windmill shadow. One thing I noticed is that one minute the vampire girls are in the background and go through a door and then when Peter Cushing goes through that same door a minute or so later they aren't there to try to molest him so as he was able to get out I don't see why they wouldn't have. It's a bit of a plot hole.
shareIn my opinion the whole third act is pretty weak and a bit of a bore.
I liked the open ending with the lady vampires. Maybe they escaped, maybe they didn't.
"I said no camels, that's five camels, can't you count?"
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